Published 6:27 pm, Saturday, August 2, 2014

But in the end, it may have cost Marc Kirshner, a chiropractor who had offices in Bridgeport and Stamford, his businesses, his marriage and his freedom.

U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill is expected to sentence Kirshner, 46, of Stamford to a term of incarceration as well as order him to repay $1,692,798 to various insurance companies.

This comes as a result of Kirshner's guilty plea to conspiring to commit mail fraud by billing insurance companies for medical care which was unnecessary, exaggerated or never given to victims of auto accidents.

Kirshner, who operated Health First Medical in Bridgeport and the Chiropractic Center and Midas Medical in Stamford, was arrested as part of a 14-month FBI undercover investigation dubbed Operation Running Man.

An FBI agent infiltrated the scam and recorded conversations during his treatment for bogus injuries.

The investigation, supervised by FBI Special Agent Daniel Curtin, led to the arrests and convictions of Joseph Haddad, a Bridgeport lawyer; Dr. James Marshall, who operates Immediate Medical Care in Monroe; Francisco Carbone, a former doctor whose license was revoked; Kirshner and three other chiropractors.

Investigators said Haddad paid people to review police reports of automobile accidents and refer victims to him.

After consulting with Haddad, they would be sent to Carbone, who would suggest a course of treatment and narcotic painkillers. Marshall would write the prescriptions and Kirshner's chiropractors would perform six months of treatment after which they would report a permanent disability.

"It is fair to say that Haddad and Kirshner were the primary movers in the broader insurance fraud scheme," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Schmeisser.

"It was plainly in Kirshner's business interest to push what he knew was a fraudulent six-month treatment regimen for Haddad clients who -- in many if not most instances -- were not significantly injured."

Schmeisser said Kirshner "pitched the need for nerve conduction tests ... paying kickback to those who ordered the tests with the monies for treatment and tests flowing to his businesses."